1997 Ford Ranger Blowing Fuse Problem

[savegoodautonfg1]

Hey,

About 2 months ago my fuse #3 15amp mini fuse blew and it caused the gauges light up and the parking lamps to not work. As soon as you put a fuse in and turned on the headlights and misc it would blow instantly. About a month ago my father has much knowledge on this since being in the business for 30 years of aftermarket car misc things like that.. he fooled around with things and thought he figured out the problem. the fuse didnt blow for a month and now the other day i was driving and it blew then tried replacing and its keeps blowing instantly again. We can't figure out what it could be.
Any help at all would be so appreciated.
Email me at [email protected]

[ElecEagle]

I'm convinced that the 97 Ranger has a serious issue with electrical systems in the steering column due to piss-poor design or installation. This board is splattered with all kinds of electrical problems resulting from or directly related to wiring inside the column.

I don't know if you are aware, but the 97 Ranger had a recall for the steering column because the windshield wipers on some of the them wouldn't come on when needed. This, of course, provides a safety issue and is the only reason for the recall.

If you are the original owner (I'm not), you could probably take advantage of the recall. If you aren't ...well, tough cookies I suppose. I'm looking at having to pay my Ford Dealer some outrageous amount of money to fix the fact that, as of last week, I no longer have hazard lights (except at 3am when the truck is parked in the drive way and the hazards come on all by themselves) or turn signals. I've narrowed it down to wiring within the column, specifically up near the hazard switch.

I don't know if the parking lamps wiring goes through the column or is behind the dash somewhere, but it sounds like you have a short somewhere causing the fuse to blow.

[watchin]

I have had a second hand 1996-1997 (late 96) Ford Ranger and bought it with 12K miles on it. It has never blown a fuse or had any electrical difficulties. Since there was a recall (which I didn't hear about) one would think that there would be thousands of posts regarding this single issue. I will look for more data on this. I agree that replacing a wire bundle inside of the steering column would be a big task.